Blue Collar Leadership - Part 4 - Take Action Immediately, While The Problem Is Small and Manageable

John 2:7 - Jesus said to them "Fill the waterpost with water."  And they filled them to the brim.

 


When Mary first mentioned to Jesus they were out of wine, it appears that Jesus did not think it was important, as he hesitated by asking her, what does this had to do with me?  Mary continued to tell the servant to do whatever Jesus told them to do.

Once that Jesus realized that this was a real concern of his mother, he decided to help her.  He immediately took action to fix the problem.  I believe the lack of immediate action is a huge problem we all have been a part of.  Have you ever been in a situation at school or work where there was a small problem that kept getting bigger?  The teacher or employer ignores the problem hoping it will go away.  Let me ask you this, did the issue ever resolve itself?  Not in my experiences, the problem just grew until it is a great big mess.

I am not saying that being out of wine is a problem that is going to snowball, but I think Jesus  set examples for us to follow.  By taking immediate action when necessary is one of those examples.  If the parent would have taken action as soon as they saw their child making a wrong decision, if the teacher would have taken immediate action with the discipline problem, if the employer would have taken immediate action of the employee showing up late, if they would have taken action, the big issue may have been resolved while it was still a small issue.

I have seen this everywhere I have worked and I think we are all guilty of it to some extent.  I know there have been many times I wished the problem would have been taken care of immediately.

"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies."~ Mother Teresa
I think problems are like this quote.  Our strength is to take care of them when they are small.

I also think we are hesitant to deal with problems at first because we don't like the discomfort it brings us.   We would rather wait and hope the problem goes away on its own.  Here is a Bible verse about discipline I found interesting.

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."  Hebrew 12:11 NIV

Doesn't a business with peace sound like a good business to work for?

Lesson Learned

1. When you have an issue or problem, deal with it immediately.  It will not go away automatically by procrastinating, it will only get bigger.  Then you will be dealing with a difficult and complex problem that you may not even be able to correct.    

This can also apply in our personal life.  Small things can grow if we don't make a stand to stop.  For example, a drink becomes alcoholism, a quick fix become an addicted drug user, and a friendly flirt turns into an affair.  Therefore, when you start realizing that their is a problem in your life take action immediately.